U.S. Foreclosure Activity Decreases 10 Percent in January According to RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report

Overall Activity Up 15 Percent From January 2009, REOs Up 31 Percent From January 2009; More Than 300,000 Properties Receive Foreclosure Filings for 11th Straight Month

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwire - February 11, 2010) - RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure
properties, today released its January 2010 U.S. Foreclosure Market
Report™, which shows foreclosure filings -- default notices, scheduled
auctions and bank repossessions -- were reported on 315,716 U.S.
properties during the month, a decrease of nearly 10 percent from the
previous month but still 15 percent above the level reported in January
2009. The report also shows one in every 409 U.S. housing units received a
foreclosure filing in January.

REO activity nationwide was down 5 percent from the previous month but
still up 31 percent from January 2009; default notices were down 12 percent
from the previous month but still up 4 percent from January 2009; and
scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 11 percent
from the previous month but still up 15 percent from January 2009.

"January foreclosure numbers are exhibiting a pattern very similar to a
year ago: a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity
followed by a 10 percent drop in January," said James J. Saccacio, chief
executive officer of RealtyTrac. "If history repeats itself we will see a
surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on
delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or
the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works."

Nevada, Arizona, California, Florida post top state foreclosure rates

Despite a year-over-year decrease in foreclosure activity of nearly 18
percent, Nevada's foreclosure rate remained highest among the
states for the 37th straight month. One in every 95 Nevada housing units
received a foreclosure filing during the month -- more than four times the
national average.

A 4 percent month-over-month increase in foreclosure activity boosted
Arizona's foreclosure rate to second highest among the states in January.
One in every 129 Arizona housing units received a foreclosure filing during
the month.

Foreclosure activity decreased by double-digit percentages from the
previous month in both California and Florida, and the two states
registered nearly identical foreclosure rates -- one in every 187 housing
units receiving a foreclosure filing. California's foreclosure rate was statistically
higher by a slim margin and ranked third highest among the states while
Florida's foreclosure rate ranked fourth highest.

With one in every 231 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, Utah
registered the nation's fifth highest state foreclosure rate despite a
nearly 12 percent month-over-month decrease in foreclosure activity.

Other states with foreclosure rates among the nation's 10 highest were
Idaho, Michigan, Illinois, Oregon and Georgia.

Six states account for nearly 60 percent of national total

California, Florida and Arizona posted the three highest state totals in
terms of properties receiving foreclosure filings in January, and together
those states accounted for more than 44 percent of the national total.

Illinois posted the nation's fourth highest total in January, with 18,120
properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month -- a nearly 2
percent increase from the previous month and a 25 percent increase from
January 2009.

Other states with totals among the 10 highest in the country were Nevada
(11,854), Georgia (11,274), Ohio (11,105) and New Jersey (6,146).

Phoenix only top 10 metro area to post monthly foreclosure increase

Phoenix foreclosure activity increased nearly 4 percent from the previous
month, and one in every 102 Phoenix housing units received a foreclosure
filing during the month -- the second highest foreclosure rate among
metropolitan areas with a population of at least 200,000. Phoenix was the
only metro area among the top 10 to post a month-over-month increase in
foreclosure activity.

Las Vegas documented the highest metro foreclosure rate, with one in every
82 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing, despite a nearly 2 percent
decrease in foreclosure activity from the previous month and a nearly 21
percent decrease in foreclosure activity from January 2009.

Six California cities registered foreclosure rates among the top 10:
Modesto at No. 3 (one in every 107 housing units); Stockton at No. 4 (one
in 107); Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario at No. 5 (one in 109); Merced at
No. 6 (one in 109); Vallejo-Fairfield at No. 7 (one in 112); and
Bakersfield at No. 8 (one in 118).

Two Florida cities rounded out the top 10: Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 9
(one in 121); and Orlando-Kissimmee at No. 10 (one in 143).

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total
number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the
RealtyTrac database during the month -- broken out by type of filing by
state, county and metropolitan statistical area. Some foreclosure filings
entered into the database during the month may have been recorded in
previous months. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties
nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S.
population. RealtyTrac's report incorporates documents filed in all three
phases of foreclosure: Default -- Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction -- Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice
of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real
Estate Owned, or REO
properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If
more than one foreclosure document is received for a property during the
month, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report
also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a
previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the
estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the
report does not count the property in the current month.

RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com) is the leading online marketplace of
foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million default, auction and
bank-owned listings from over 2,200 U.S. counties, along with detailed
property, loan and home sales data. Hosting more than 3 million unique
monthly visitors, RealtyTrac provides innovative technology solutions and
practical education resources to facilitate buying, selling and investing
in real estate. RealtyTrac's foreclosure data has also been used by the
Federal Reserve, FBI, U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee and Banking
Committee, U.S. Treasury Department, and numerous state housing and banking
departments to help evaluate foreclosure trends and address policy issues
related to foreclosures. RealtyTrac publishes a blog with daily updates on
the foreclosure market (www.foreclosurepulse.com) and a monthly print
newsletter covering the foreclosure market in depth
(www.foreclosurenewsreport.com).